Middle & Caw - Photo Gallery

There was ice on my windscreen as I started the car and it was three degrees centigrade as I drove north but at least the sun was shining and the visibility was perfect for some exploration. By the time I parked the car on the side of the road at Greendale near Wast Water it was nine degrees and it was clouding over. As I set off up the obvious path northwards through the bracken towards Middle Fell it began to drizzle, I hope I don't have to navigate off a strange hill in this weather. The shower didn't last too long though, just in time for me to have the best views of the plurally named Tongues Gills, the moody Wastwater Screes and a remnant of cloud clinging stubbornly to the top edge of Buckbarrow.

I like Middle Fell, it's an interesting hill, there is none of the steep plodding that you frequently get with smaller hills; although it has its steeper moments the ascent from this direction is reasonably graded, a nice walk. At the summit the weather takes another twist, a sharp cold breeze makes me feel that autumn has suddenly arrived. What I really like about Middle Fell is the view from the summit, I would argue it is the best mountain view in the Lake District and although the clouds obscure the hills they also add a bit of drama to the view.

There is a faint path running along the ridge northwards before dropping down to the left to the col between Middle Fell and Seatallan. The wide flat col is a sponge soaking up water and slowly releasing it to Greendale Tarn, it can get quite wet underfoot. There are a couple of faint paths visible and I followed the one directly ahead, the ground was wet but the water only got half way up to my ankles. I had decided to see if I could climb straight up the steep side of Seatallan from here and I was surprised to find a faint path going my way, I wouldn't have expected anyone else to try this route and the sheep were certainly surprised to see me.

The ground became quite steep, the rain started again, mist covered the higher part of the hill and as with all good paths it disappeared at the steepest part of the hill just when I needed it most. To be honest I think I was so busy looking how steep the rest of the climb was I missed the path's slight change of direction, I found it again just as the gradient eased. As I got the to wide, featureless summit I was wondering how to find the summit when the mist suddenly cleared and the triangulation column was straight ahead.

Seatallan stands out and has an immediately recognisable shape but it is rarely visited, hence there are no real footpaths and no erosion at the summit nor on any of the approaches. In spite of the weather clearing temporarily there was still a cold wind and I needed hat and gloves to keep warm. The view was extensive, clear enough to name each of Sellafield's structures if you were familiar with them. The descent is a steep lawn, there is a trace of a footpath in places but generally you head north east towards Scoat Tarn if you can see it. About half way down the steep slope a path materialises that takes you towards Haycock.

It's quite a long way across the wide flat area towards Haycock, the path splits and I took the left branch thinking I was heading to the steep grass slope on the ascent to the summit. I suddenly remembered that I had come across a better ascent on a previous visit and after bypassing a rocky hillock I could see Haycock clearly illuminated. I could see the route of the grass slope and also what looked like a natural ascent on the other side of Gowder Crag. I left the path and made a beeline for the start of the natural ascent, zig-zagging through tussocks of long grass to avoid the boggy areas.

The path I found last time was quite obvious but the route I was going to try was not; there were no signs of any disturbance by man or sheep. The route I had seen from a distance didn't look very comfortable, the rocks were greasy and the scree was steep so I climbed up towards the skyline hoping to find a ridge. I did find a ridge and there seemed to be a way upwards, it was steep and bouldery but there seemed to be signs of previous disturbance. Then I got to a grassy section where there were obvious foot marks that had obviously not been used for a very long time.

The mist had come in again by the time I got to a cairn on top of a rock outcrop, beyond was a wide flat area – was this the summit or did I have another big climb to make? I was fairly sure I knew where I was so I carried on towards higher ground just visible through the mist, I was even closer to the summit than I thought because I came across the wall almost straight away. After seeing nobody for four hours I met another walker at the summit, he seemed to be wandering aimlessly and I half expected to be asked for directions.

As I sat in the summit shelter the other walker came in and said “so much for the view”, I stood up to put on my rucksack a minute later and I was able to point out a wonderful view of Ennerdale. The way ahead was also visible, the wall takes you all the way to Caw Fell. The only interruption in the steady descent is a slight rise upto a small summit that hides an interesting object. This is Little Gowder Crag and it's only when you look down from the summit do you realise what an interesting little obstacle this is. If you were climbing it would be good fun to climb straight up the rock but going down in the wet you have to take a more considered route.

The descent is really two obstacles, the first you can find a grassy route between the rock, the second you can make your way down a rocky ledge. The way ahead is obvious - just follow the wall, the view behind has gone and the mist is coming in again. As you follow the wall it's difficult to think that you are climbing a separate hill; eventually you will come across a substantial cairn about 20 metres to the right of the wall. This must be the summit cairn but it's difficult to say that this is the highest point of anything especially in the mist. I had picked a fine sunny day for this route, the last thing I wanted was to navigate off Caw Fell in the mist. Wainwright says sharp eyes will spot the remains of an aeroplane either side of the wall, does falling over a battered grey metallic fragment count as being sharp eyed?

Here I am in the mist on Caw Fell, there is no way I can go back the way I came so I'm going to have to use map and compass to get me off the hill. Following the wall is easy but then it turns right accompanied by the faint footpath. I kept going in the same direction until I came to a stone shelter, it seems a strange place to build a substantial shelter that few people might visit. Now I have to head south until I reach a stream, Red Beck, in a small valley and it should take about 15 minutes. I found that alright, now to change direction and follow the unmarked Parish boundary down slightly steeper ground to a broad ridge where I need to change direction again to find a pile of stones.

It sounds a bit unlikely but I found the pile of stones, why would anyone build a pile of stones here? This is a wide and flat featureless area and in the mist I was feeling quite pleased with myself for having found my way without any trouble. I was now below the mist and navigation as such should be easier, I can see the way ahead but there isn't a great deal to see. That isn't exactly true because there are so many details that don't look like natural features, the way the rocks are scattered around in groups around hollowed out areas, not to mention the many cairns. There is no good reason for building cairns on this featureless grassy hill is there?

The descent is easy enough and the place I'm looking for is Stockdale Moor, it is straight ahead and not too tall but the grass is red. Red grass is wet grass but there seems to be a couple of paths across it, which one do I choose? I chose the right hand path because it goes around the edge of the moor, I think I may have to search for the object I'm looking for so I want to give myself the best chance of finding it. The path is wet but at least it is fairly flat, it is raining properly and I am walking through tall grass and getting quite wet below the knee.

It seems a long way tramping across the soft wet ground and I have been walking for a while anyway so the rain has a demoralising effect. I got to a point where the only way was down, I was hoping to see something obvious but the tall red grass hides everything. I decided to head south towards the obvious path on the other side of the River Bleng hoping to come across the only stream marked on the map. Off the path now it was much harder going through the tussocks of tall wet grass, green moss and being careful to avoid holes and boggy areas.

Then I came to a small stream, was it big enough to appear on the map? I thought it was worth a quick walk upstream just to see what was there and almost immediately regretted it because the sodden sponge-like ground was wetter than anything else so far today. There were a few old stones lying together but not really big enough to be a named cairn but then I saw something more promising. The was a slight climb up very wet ground, I was now in danger of being more than ankle deep in water and beginning to wonder if it was really worth the effort.

I really expected Sampson's Bratfull to be so obvious that I couldn't miss it but I had to find it in a bog near the head of a small stream. Wainwright described it as being 35 yards long and 12 yards wide but I suspect this was another of the hearsay descriptions of places he never actually got to. The irregular shaped pile of ancient grey stones is the only object on the moor that shows above the tall grass and its position tells me it must be what I was looking for. In the rain it wasn't worth changing the batteries in my camera to photograph it. All I had to do now was walk over the rough wet moorland in a southerly direction heading for Sergeant Ford.

After walking over more wet, rough moorland the ground became drier and the grass shorter as I descended towards the River Bleng. I passed the remains of several cairns all made of the same grey stones covered in white lichen that I haven't seen anywhere else. There are no outcrops on the moor so the stones must have been brought from the same place somewhere else. As I got close to the river there was no obvious single crossing place, there were lots of stones in the river but I wouldn't trust them in the wet.

The bank of the river was extremely boggy and after a careful descent to the water it became obvious that the stepping stones were too slippery to use and I couldn't cross the five metre wide river without them. I made my way carefully along the soggy river bank a short way downstream to where there was a wooden barrier across the river suspended from a steel hauser. I hung on the the steel cable as I stepped across slippery stones in the river to a point where there were no more boulders and I had to make an awkward leap to the river bank from a nearby pile of stones.

Once across the river there is an obvious path uphill by the side of the harvested conifer plantation, at the top of the slope is a gate to a wide track. I was still using my map to follow the footpaths and I came across an obvious junction, the path I was on appeared to end at a T-junction where I turned left. I expected to get to a path near Windsor Farm but the track just ended at a conifer plantation. I didn't understand what had happened, the maps don't usually get things as wrong as that, I thought I had no option but to carry on through the youthful plantation. Walking through forestry plantations is highly not recommended but fortunately it wasn't too far to get through the trees to an old wall.

On the other side of the wall is the path I wanted to get to, looking at the map I realised where I had gone wrong, I had turned along a forest path. The T-junction wasn't the end of the path – I should have carried on for a short while until I reached the real path. Anyway, I cut across the wet fields above the farm sheepfolds until I reached the path that took me to the track leading to the road for a twenty minute walk back to the car.

Sampson's Bratfull was quite underwhelming in itself and in getting there my feet got wetter than they have ever been but it got me around an area I wouldn't normally have got to.

Andy Wallace 17th September 2005